Kata applications are not always obvious, and sometimes inspiration comes from the most unlikely of places. “A-List Startenders” bartending school on Montrose and Milwaukee in Chicago offers a cunning hint into the opening of Pinan Yondan.

Picture Itosu sitting in Naha’s Tsuji District at the turn of the 20th century, plotting the Pinans while watching a bartender flip a bottle of Awamori. Aha!

Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment after seven weeks of meditation under the Bodhi Tree; in today’s fast-paced environment, sometimes it only takes two minutes under a traffic light. We shall call this application the “Awamori Flip!”

(We train seriously, but try not to take ourselves too seriously!)